It's official. The Pittsburgh Steelers have traded Joey Porter Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys. Rumors started swirling late Wednesday night that the star cornerback could be on the move. Now the Steelers' 2023 second-round pick is trading in the black and gold for the blue and silver.
Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team first reported that Porter is being sent to Dallas in exchange for a package that includes a second-round pick. We quickly learned that the Steelers will be receiving a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick from the Cowboys, per ESPN's Jane Slater.
Things ended on a sour note for Porter and the Steelers. After seemingly striking gold with the 32nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the assumption, for the longest time, was that he would be a cornerback who would stick around on a second contract.
But as Porter earnestly sought a rich new contract extension, both the Steelers and Porter's camp dug their heels in and refused to budge. This burned bridges that couldn't be repaired, and trade talks became unavoidable.
Perhaps more than anything, however, it shows that the Dallas Cowboys are more serious about competing to win football games now than the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Cowboys make a serious push with the Joey Porter Jr. trade as the Steelers still don't have a clear direction
When the Steelers brought back a 42-year-old quarterback, it was clearly with the assumption that this team was looking to give it one last shot not only to push for a playoff spot in 2026, but to win postseason games. Not only did Aaron Rodgers return for one final season, but the Steelers are currently overpaying to keep veterans like T.J. Watt and Jalen Ramsey around in their age-32 seasons.
So it was only expected that the Steelers would also keep their best cornerback in what we thought they viewed as a championship run. That clearly didn't happen.
Instead of maximizing their defensive upside by extending Porter, the Steelers send him packing. Ironically, this is the third trade general manager Omar Khan has made with the Cowboys since May 2025, when he sent George Pickens packing for a third-round pick and a late-round pick swap.
And Steelers fans who thought the Pickens trade was bad aren't going to like this one.
Porter was one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL last year by most advanced metrics. The lengthy CB was credited with allowing just 325 receiving yards in 14 games last season, while surrendering just a 55.9 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks, per Pro Football Focus [$].
There's no sugarcoating it: the Steelers just lost one of the top defenders and best overall players. For the past several weeks, it felt like Porter had already played his final game in Pittsburgh and that the contract issues would not be resolved. Still, the trade only hurts the chances of a team looking to give it one last run with the league's oldest roster.
Now Steelers fans are forced to sit back and watch Pickens and Porter aid the Dallas Cowboys in winning football games this season. These were two fantastic second-round picks by Khan, but the GM couldn't find a way to keep them around.
The Cowboys may not be legitimate contenders still, but at least they are giving it their all to try to compete now. Whereas the Steelers have made a barrage of questionable trade decisions since the 2025 offseason. Khan seemed to have no issue trading second-round capital for DK Metcalf and giving him $33 million per year—a decision that's proving to be disastrous so far.
It's worth noting that the Cowboys traded for Porter despite not having a long-term extension worked out. This is something they are going to figure out later. However, it does make it risky on their part, as Porter could simply hit the free-agent market next offseason if he's not franchise-tagged and if no deal is in place.
Dallas placed the franchise tag on Pickens in March, and they could technically do the same with Porter in 2027, but there's no guarantee they can work out a long-term deal with either player (or that Porter will play on the franchise tag).
The one thing that Pittsburgh Steelers fans can look forward to is all of the draft capital they will have over the next two years. The front office has an extra third-rounder in 2027 and an extra second-round pick in 2028, thanks to the Broderick Jones and Joey Porter Jr. trades, respectively.
But at the end of the day, we wanted this team to compete, and the Cowboys just proved that they are more serious about winning playoff games in 2026 than the Steelers.
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